Constitutional Convention Delegates

Given the history of the United States (especially the bitter war the Americans just fought in order to gain independence from the British king), many framers were concerned that consolidating the executive branch into one person would be a recipe for the creation of an American king. Some particularly feared the process of electing the president because, once in office, the president could use his power to insure his reelection. Benjamin Franklin shows concern that providing the president with a salary would attract the wrong type of people to the job and could speed the creation of an American king. For these reasons, the ability to impeach the president was considered an essential check on presidential power.

The Committee of the whole proceeded to the seventh resolution, "that a national executive be instituted, to be...